Barton County KS Archives Church Records.....Catholic Churches of Barton Co. Copyright Date 1912 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/ks/ksfiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Joy Fisher sdgenweb@gmail.com July 23, 2005, 1:50 am CATHOLIC CHURCHES OF BARTON COUNTY Great Bend Church As early as 1877, Rev. Father Swenberg used to come from Newton to visit the missions of Barton County, among which was Great Bend. A little later on, Rev. B. Wolf, a Benedictine, who was stationed at Windhorst, Ford County, took charge of the Great Bend mission and built a church. From 1882 to 1885, Father Epp attended from Ellinwood. Then came Father Dissolkamp, who is credited with moving the church to its present site and renovating its interior. From 1885 on, Great Bend has had as resident priests Rev. Fathers Walsh, Kelly, Brown, Podgorsek, Wiersma, Shutz, O'Sullivan and Hermann. The present pastor is Father Hull, who has been here two years. There are about 40 families in the parish and it is the expectation to erect soon a new and larger church. The Knights of Columbus have a flourishing council and were honored with the 1912 State Convention. Odin Church The first church, St. Mary's, at Odin, was built in 1878 by Father Hundhausen, who visited once a month from Ellinwood. Rev. J. C. Schurz visited for a while. In 1881 Father Emmerich came to reside. He built the rectory and the first school, and started on the new church. Father Heiman was appointed in 1896 and under him the new $30,000 stone church was completed. Rev. B. Drath supplied for a year. Father Heimau returned and set to work to build the $20,000 school, which was completed in 190S. The present pastor, Father Niederprum, has been in charge two years. The Sisters of St. Dominic manage the school, 80 children attending. There are over 100 families in this prosperous parish. Claflin Church At the time the M. P. R. R. was run through this section, the Catholics around Claflin built a school house, where Father Emmerich held regular services, until Fathers Heiman and Drath built the present beautiful church in 1905. It cost about $4,000. Rev. Reinschmidt was the first resident pastor, and a cosy home was purchased for him. Rev. Joyce, the noted entertainer, enlivened the neighborhood for two years and then went to cheer the Soldiers in the U. S. army as a chaplain. Fathers Heiman and O'Sullivan visited for a while, till the appointment of Father McErlane, the present rector. The parish contains thirty-five families. Dubuque Church A small church, named after St. Catherine, was erected in 1882 by Father Emmerich, who continued to visit regularly till 1896. Previous to his coming, during 1881, Rev. Lager held services in a school house. Rev. Dragun attended for a year from Wilson. After Father Emmerich, it was visited by Father Heiman, who began the construction of a new church. In 1898 Father Hermanns came to reside. He continued the building of the new church, and put up a comfortable home. After nine years of devoted service, he resigned his place to Rev. J. Birrenbach. The old church happened to burn down. The new one was then soon finished. It had been a mighty task for the 75 families of the parish to raise the necessary $5,000. Ellinwood The old St. Joseph's church was started in 187, when Father Swenborgh of Newton visited occasionally. In 1878 Rev. Emmer came to reside and was succeeded the same year by Father Hundhausen, who built the first priest's house. Rev. J. C. Schurz came in 1SSO and was followed by Father Epp in 18S2. He had the first school built. In 1896 came Father Emmerich, under whose able administration a new church, rectory, and school have replaced the old ones at an outlay of $50,000. The old rectory now serves for a convent. There are over a 100 substantial, German families in the parish and in the school, taught by Sisters of the Precicus Blood, 60 pupils. There is a council of the Knights of Columbus, who have erected a $20,000 hall. In the towering spire of the church is a large town clock donated by the citizens, which automatically rings the bells at the appointed intervals of the day and night. St. Peter and Paul's Church Five Miles North of Ellinwood The first church at St. Peter and Paul's was built in 1877, by Father Swenborgh, and was attended from Ellinwood. In 1882 Father Epp established a school and erected the handsome brick church. Rev. B. Disselkamp was the first resident pastor and put up the present rectory in 1898. After two years under Rev. J. Mantz, came Father Weichmann, who enlarged the school and added a new sanctuary on the church. Rev. J. Bast is now caring for the 75 families of the parish and the school is flourishing under the management of the Sisters. Olmitz Church As early as 1878, Olmitz was visited once a month by Rev. B. Wolf, a member cf the Benedictine Order. In 1881 Father Emmerich began to come from Odin and in 1882 he built the first church. The next year Father Disselkamp came to reside. His successors were Rev. Dr. Dipolder, Hartmann and Sklenar. After the building through of the M. P. R. R. the church was moved to town. Father Huna, who has been fourteen years at Olmitz, has been an active supervisor. He has enlarged and decorated the church, built a rectory and a convent. He is very interested in his school and entrusts it with the Sisters of the Precious Blood. The 100 families of his congregation are of German, Bohemian and Irish descent. Hoisington Catholic Church Shortly after the building of the M. P. R. R. Rev. Emmerich used to hold services at different houses in Hoisington. Later, Father Kelly Of Hutchinson attended and built the first church. It was afterwards supplied from Great Bend and has been visited by Fathers Podgorsek, Wirma, Schutz, Hermanns and O'Sullivan. The last named built a beautiful rectory and took up his residence in it six years ago. He has added to his great achievements by the erection of a $20,000 church, the grandest structure in the town. Additional Comments: Extracted from: Biographical history of Barton County, Kansas Great Bend, Kan.: Great Bend Tribune (1912) File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/ks/barton/churches/catholic3bb.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.poppet.org/ksfiles/ File size: 6.5 Kb